Tuition fees do not need to rise further, says Nick Clegg

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/mar/25/tuition-fees-not-need-rise-nick-clegg-student-debt

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Nick Clegg has insisted there is "absolutely no need" to raise tuition fees, although he sidestepped a question on whether he would rule out such a move out altogether.

The deputy prime minister made his comments in the Commons as Labour taunted him over reports that the government's tripling of tuition fees to £9,000 was "on course to end up costing the taxpayer more than the system it replaced".

Harriet Harman, the deputy Labour leader, said: "You said you had to back the Tories on tuition fees because it was too expensive not to. And the truth is even … the former departmental special adviser has admitted the government got its maths wrong. There are now rumours that to cover the cost of this incompetence they could put up fees again.

"You said that you got it wrong on tuition fees in your last manifesto. Can you now confirm the next Lib Dem manifesto will rule out any further tuition fees increase?"

Clegg dismissed the figures suggesting the £9,000 fee system could cost more, accusing Labour of "trying to make political mischief" over variable estimates which cover the next 35 years of student debt repayment.

"There is absolutely no need for a further increase, because in fact we have just announced, at the end of last year, that universities will be able to take an unlimited number of students. We are removing the cap from the number of British students going to British universities, there's no cap on the number of overseas students, so there's no need," he said.

Clegg also said students were better off under the new system because someone on a wage of £24,000 was paying back an average of £22.50 a month, compared with £67.50 a month under the previous system.

"Isn't that the reason why despite all the predictions from the party opposite that people wouldn't apply to university, applications have gone up? Isn't that the reason why, despite all the reasons from you and your colleagues that fewer people from disadvantaged families would go, the proportion did go up? Those are the facts that really matter to students these days."

The row came after Nick Hillman, a former Conservative political aide who advised the universities minister, David Willetts, over tuition fees, called for a rethink of the system.

Speaking to the Guardian, he said there was no doubt "the government has got it wrong and therefore there is a big funding gap and something has to be done about it".

On Monday night, Ed Miliband hinted that Labour would provide a radical offer to students on their fees before the next election. Labour has previously argued in favour of a graduate tax system, rather than offering loans to pay for upfront fees.

"Young people feel they have no control, because they are going to get into mountains of debt if they go to university," he told ITV's The Agenda.

"We do want a radical offer on tuition fees because the future of our young people … is a massive issue that our country faces."

An attractive offer to students on tuition fees could be politically problematic for the Liberal Democrats, who fought the 2010 election with a strong core of student support by promising to axe tuition fees. The party's support for raising fees to £9,000 when in coalition led Clegg to offer an apology to his voters for ever making the pledge in the first place.